England smash six past Portugal at Wembley to set-up Spain showdown
AGGIE BEEVER-JONES SCORED a hat-trick in her first Wembley start for England as the Lionesses completed a 6-0 Nations League group stage rout of Portugal.
The Chelsea forward led the line in place of the injured Alessia Russo, and fired the hosts in front in the third minute before clubmate Lucy Bronze nodded in a second less than two minutes later.
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Beever-Jones struck twice more either side of Beth Mead's 29th-minute goal to hand England a 5-0 lead in the 33rd minute, and substitute Chloe Kelly added a sixth after the break.
21-year-old Beever-Jones is just the second Lioness to score a hat-trick at Wembley and third woman on record to have done so, after Mead and Italy's Carolina Morace.
England's triumph ensures they are still in contention to advance to the autumn Nations League finals, but will need to beat group leaders Spain on Tuesday night to finish top of their group.
The Euro 2022 champions shrugged off the shock international retirement of Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Mary Earps during the week with an emphatic showing, this arguably the first game in which Chelsea's Hannah Hampton was unequivocally England's number one.
Elsewhere, Germany joined already qualified France in the semi-finals with a 4-0 rout of the Netherlands, while Spain eased past Belgium 5-1.
- Additional reporting from – © AFP 2025
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